Rite of Passage
by itsphoeberawr
Summary: Jinora completes her training and receives her arrows. "...She straightened her back as she began the most important day of her entire sixteen years. 'Are you ready' 'I'm ready.' "


Jinora opened her eyes and tried to breathe.

She sat in the meditation pavilion as she had since sunrise the previous day, sore and tired from holding the same position for twenty-four consecutive hours of meditation. Her lack of sleep showed as bags under her thoughtful brown eyes, which scanned the mouth of Yue Bay, watching the first fingers of dawn reach from beyond the horizon.

The air nomads had believed in a simple existence, and that was reflected in her appearance. She was clothed in a light, simple cream robe that did not protect from the chill of the early morning. Her deep brown hair fell loose and brushed her shoulders, free of its usual bun. Her posture, which had started out poised and straight, had given in to time and and she had begun to slouch. But as the stars began to fade and the sky lightened from a deep black to a midnight blue, and again to a soft purple, she straightened her back in anticipation as she began the most important day of her entire sixteen years.

She had been working towards this day ever since she realized she could bend. When her parents had also noticed that she could run perhaps a bit too fast, or that when she slipped and fell from the gingko tree she simply floated to the ground rather than tumbled, they were overjoyed. The next day, her father had begun to instruct her in the first of the thirty-six tiers of airbending. Since then, she had toiled and trained, learning form by form, tier by tier. It was hard work, but she knew it would be worth it in the end.

Jinora heard the crunch of dead leaves and gravel under foot behind her. A hand touched her shoulder.

"Are you ready, dear?" It was her father and master, Tenzin.

"I'm ready." She closed her eyes for a spell and slowly got to her feet, stretching as her aching muscles were finally freed from their position. Her vision blurred for a moment as a wave of hunger swept over her; she had not eaten since she had sat down in the meditation pavilion a day ago.

"Easy, now." Her father placed a steadying hand on her arm. She nodded in acknowledgement and turned to look at him. The pride in the tall airbender's face was unmistakeable as he gave her a smile through his bushy beard.

She returned his smile. "Let's go."

They walked down the steps of the pavilion and across the courtyard. She followed him to the entrance of the temple and stopped before the ornate doors, propped open by Tenzin. She closed her eyes and walked past her father and into the temple. He walked in behind her, letting the heavy doors swing shut. Together they walked into the inner sanctuary of the temple. There a large basin of steaming, scented water sat waiting for her. Next to it was a simple white futon on the ground, and a pot of blue ink, a collection of needles and a razor on a small, low table. Her heart pounded when she saw the needles, and she swallowed nervously.

Jinora stepped toward the basin, shedding her cotton robe as she did so, leaving her completely naked. She stepped over the edge, sliding slowly into the pleasantly warm water, letting out a sigh of relief and pleasure. Presently she began to bathe with the soap Tenzin handed her. It smelled of sandalwood, musk and fall leaves. She massaged it into every inch of her skin, eventually rubbing a good deal of it into her scalp. She leaned back into the water, letting herself slip under, rinsing her hair, which fanned out around her head and tickled her neck.

When she was finished, she rose to her feet and stepped out of the bath, into a fluffy white towel held out by her father, who wrapped her in it. She dried herself and wrung out her hair. Then she shed the towel, sitting down on the futon, feeling the chill of the air on her bare skin. Air.

Tenzin walked over to the table and picked up the razor. He turned and stood behind her, holding it aloft. She shut her eyes tight, anticipating his next move.

_Snip._

Jinora opened her eyes to watch a lock of her chocolate hair drop to the ground. It was followed by several others, surrounding her like fallen leaves around a tree. She bit her lip. It was necessary for the next step to shave her head, and she would be allowed to grow it back, but it didn't mean she had to like it. Still, she did not say a word and sat there stoically as her crowning glory was cut off, and later shaved completely to the scalp.

When he was done, Tenzin began to sweep up the fallen hair around her. As he did, she let her hand travel to her scalp. She rubbed her head, feeling the smoothness of the bald skin. It felt unfamiliar and alien to her.

Her father swept up the remains of her hair and put it in a bag, which he set aside. He then went over to the table, chose a few needles and fitted them. into a strange wooden instrument. He turned to her.

"Lay down, Jinora."

She did so, on her back with her arms by her sides. Tenzin knelt by her with the instrument and pot of ink. _This is it, _she thought. But it was not the needle instrument he put to her forehead. It was a thin ink brush. Tenzin began to draw the outline of an arrow on her forehead and over the crown of her bald head, prompting her to get up, turn over, and lift various limbs as he traced the long stripes down her spine, splitting and wrapping underneath her buttocks and around her legs, ending in arrows on the tops of her feet. Two more ribbons began in her underarms and wrapped around her arms like those on her legs, also ending in arrows on the backs of her hands.

When Tenzin was satisfied with the design, he mentioned to Jinora to lay back again. This time he did pick up the needle instrument.

"Are you ready?"

Jinora swallowed and nodded nervously. Tenzin began to airbend a stream of wind through a tiny fan on the instrument, and it began to whir, the needle moving up and down at lightning speed. He gently dipped it in the blue ink, and poised his hand above her forehead.

The needle met her skin and she gasped as it bit into her brow. She began to chew her tongue to keep from crying out. She would not cry out and bring shame on her ancestors. She would not make a sound.

And so began the long and painful ritual. Tears would occasionally leak out of Jinora's eyes, but she held her tongue and obeyed each of Tenzin's prompts to turn over and expose different parts of her body. As the hours dragged on, the pile of towels used to wipe away blood and ink slowly grew, and the amount of ink in the pot slowly lowered. She watched the sun travel across the sky through the window, the shadows of the pillars elongating and stretching with time. Soon the sun began to set as the sky turned orange outside, then a dusky purple. Jinora's head was beginning to ache from the combination of her pain and her lack of sleep and food. Finally the needle slowed.

"We're done."

She let out a long breath of relief. Tenzin brought out another pot, this one filled with a healing salve. He dipped his fingers and spread it across her tattoos, soothing the inflamed skin. When he was done, he mentioned to her to get up, and she did so. He helped her put on a fresh cotton robe. It stuck to the salve in places, but she did not care. She was too tired.

Jinora moved to take a step. Suddenly, her head swam and she swayed, falling back into her father's arms. Gently, he scooped her up and held her to his chest.

"It's all right, I've got you." He carried her out of the temple doors, outside of which her family was waiting for them. Rohan began to shout her name at the sight of them, but was quickly silenced by Pema, who was misty-eyed at the sight of her bald, exhausted daughter in her husband's arms. Meelo and Ikki both grinned broadly at her, eyes filled with admiration.

Tenzin nodded at his wife and walked towards the dormitories. Soon he had reached Jinora's room. As the sky outside slowly settled into a deep midnight blue, the room was dark and comforting. He walked over to the bed and gently laid her down, pulling the covers over her and tucking her in like he would when she was a little girl.

His darling little girl, his precious firstborn was now a master airbender. The breath caught in his throat and his eyes began to swim with tears. Words could not express how proud he was of her in that moment, as he bent down to place a whiskery kiss on her cheek.

The bed was warm and comforting, and the tendrils of sleep had already reached her. She slipped out of consciousness and settled into a deep slumber.

_I am so proud of you, my little granddaughter. _A warm, comforting male voice floated though her dreams.

_Grandpa Aang?_

_ Yes, my master airbender. I love you so much..._

In her sleep, a smile crept across Jinora's face.

_I love you too.  
_

* * *

_A/N: Hey, it's Phoebe! I really had fun writing this. There were a lot of different scenarios I thought about for this, but I liked the idea of a private, intimate ceremony between father and daughter better than an elaborate ceremony with a lot of people. I figured that meditation and fasting would definitely be a part of it considering the air nomad culture. I also came up with the idea of an airbending-powered tattoo machine because I thought that hand-poking such a large set of tattoos would take a really, really long time although the tattoos are simple. So I came up with it to save Jinora and myself some pain. Frankly I just didn't want to write that much.  
Anyway I hope you enjoy it! This is my first fanfiction in years. I hope it turned out okay! Thank you for reading and please review! Every review helps me get of my butt and write more._


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